By Maria

Each week a part of our Grow meeting is a report on how well we did the previous week on our chosen task. We will also choose a task for the following week. The Grow Literature advises that it would be better if each member chooses their own task, as they are more likely to complete it. Either way, we have an assortment of tasks completed, half-completed, and not started at all. The lines “Activation before Motivation”, to “The easiest way to make a task appear impossible is to keep putting it off”, are all aids as we act.

With this in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to do some research on Procrastination. Procrastination is a habit, and if you understand how it shows up for you, you can replace it with a better one. People often procrastinate because they’re afraid of failing. This fear can promote procrastination. It can cause people to avoid finishing a task or starting it in the first place.

When we need to get something done. we rely primarily on our self-control in order to bring ourselves to do it. Our self-control often receives support from our motivation. This helps us to get things done in a timely manner.

In some cases, we experience certain demotivating factors. such as anxiety and fear. This then has an opposite effect on our motivation.

We can also experience other hindering factors, such as exhaustion or rewards that are too far in the future. When demotivating and hindering factors outweigh our self-control and motivation, we end up procrastinating, either indefinitely or until we reach a point when the balance between them shifts in our favour.

Among the most common specific reasons why people procrastinate are:

• Abstract Goals
• Rewards that are far in the future
• Feeling Overwhelmed
• Anxiety
• Task Aversion
• Perfectionism
• Fear of Evaluation
• Negative Feedback
• Fear of Failure
• A perceived lack of Control
• Depression
• Lack of Energy

Figuring out why you procrastinate, may help you to move into the task comfortably. Asking yourself, “Is there anything on this list that applies to me turning away from attempting or completing my task”?

Grow tells us that meaning generates energy, lack of meaning generates depression. With this in mind, our task is important. Too important to allow procrastination to stand in our way.